The other day I was thinking about when the last time was that I had seen a jackrabbit or hare. As a kid, it was common to come across one running across a field or when we ventured out into the slough in the wintertime. At my age, I have not been spending any time exploring my old stomping grounds, the slough on Bridge Avenue, or any slough for that matter. That is where I spotted many of them as a kid. I believe that a combination of habitat disappearing, and an increasing number of predators (mainly coyotes) has been a contributing factor.
The red fox is another critter that has not been as visible as it once was. Although there are still a few folks that hunt them, you do not see as many fox hunters as there were years ago. I believe that a couple of things factor into that. First, the loss of valuable habitat due to farming. It seems to me that when there were small farms with a couple of hundred acres there were more critters, and you could find landowners who were willing to let you hunt their fields.
If you take a drive in the country and head west, you will see vast fields with little or no habitat. With the cost of farming, most of the small farmers lease their lands to the bigger farmers who want to farm more land. I see nothing wrong with that except when they plow under the fence lines
which we once called windrows. This is where wildlife once flourished and went for protection from predators and the elements.
I am not an expert on this, just a person who has been around for a few years to observe these changes. Our quest to use more land to develop or use has eliminated a lot of valuable habitat. The pheasant, for example, was once abundant in this area, and now they are becoming a rare find. I have heard from a few folks who have seen more pheasants this past fall than in recent years. This is encouraging for the pheasant population and those who choose to hunt them.
What is a Wildlife Management Area?
Wildlife management areas (WMAs) are part of Minnesota's outdoor recreation system and are established to protect those lands and waters that have a high potential for wildlife production, public hunting, trapping, fishing, and other compatible recreational uses. They are the
backbone to DNR's wildlife management efforts in Minnesota and are key to protecting wildlife habitat for future generations, providing citizens with opportunities for hunting, fishing and wildlife watching, and promoting important wildlife-based tourism in the state.
I know that Freeborn County has quite a bit of WMA land to sustain much of our valued wildlife. According to the DNR website there are 14 Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) in Freeborn County. This list is up by 3 from when I wrote about WMA’s a few years back. These parcels of land are free to the public to explore or hunt. Some offer potholes for ducks and others just have habitat to explore.
I have always found this a fascinating part of our local outdoors heritage. Most of this land has been donated or sold to the DNR for this purpose.
Who uses WMAs?
Ranging from prairies and wetlands to forests and brushlands, WMAs provide opportunities for hunting, fishing, trapping, and wildlife watching activities. Hundreds of thousands of hunters use these public wildlife lands. Pheasants, waterfowl, deer, and ruffed grouse are the major game species hunted, but WMAs also provide wild turkey, sharp-tailed grouse, rabbit, and squirrel hunting. Wildlife resources are very important to Minnesota; 15 percent of Minnesotans hunt and 52 percent of Minnesota residents watch wildlife, the highest participation rate in the country. Hunting and wildlife watching are a $1 billion dollar industry in Minnesota.
Until next time; I contacted our State Representative Peggy Bennett on the status of the final phase of the dredging for Fountain Lake. She replied almost immediately and said that she and Sen. Dornick had gotten it approved at the last minute, but it failed to get included in last year’s bill. She also said that they are hopeful of getting it included in this years bonding bill, but the status is unclear with a different majority in both the house and senate.
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